Chris Ware’s Building Stories is a remarkable graphic novel with a daring, unique format.
Gerri Mahn unpacks, quite literally, this wonderful “object'” of a book.
What can I say?
Im a graphic novel snob.
As a rule, Im more inclined to rereadSandmanor early issues ofThe Walking Dead.
Never heard of Browns work?
Are you old enough to know who Ronald Reagan is?
What can I say?
Did I love it?
But Wares work is not for everyone so I promise to proceed from here with only marginal bias.
With his latest work, Ware (ofJimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earthfame) has outdone himself.
Technically,Building Storiesis a graphic novel.
Realistically it is marvel of form and function.
Building Storiesis not your old, perverse, uncles graphic novel.
Remember when you were a kid?
Setting up a board game was like a ritual.
Fans will recognize the layered, architectural, style in both story and design that madeJimmy Corriganso distinctive.
The result is that these stories, which are essentially glimpses into peoples lives, read as tragically authentic.
This stylistic choice is the very thing that can make Ware unpalatable for some.
Realistic human behavior, pimples and all, can result in characters that are difficult to love.
The good news is that the motivation behind each personal tragedy is part of this finely wrought visual story.
These are the stories that Ware has set out to tell.
How do people become good, bad, and ugly over the course of a lifetime?
This is a man who thinks outside the box.
Ware is constantly attempting to expand on our reading experience.
His stories become something tactile, something the reader can manipulate.
THE END
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